Chapter 17
Damon
As soon as I get to school, I track down Cam and Hawk and pull them into an empty classroom. The whole ride to school my brain spun around what Evan revealed. I also followed her to school and watched her walk inside, keeping an eye out for anyone watching her.
“We have a fucking problem.” I send both of them the screenshot.
They both look at their phones.
“What the fuck are we looking at?” Hawk looks pissed.
“This was Evan’s phone?” Cam asks.
“The texts came in this morning.” I run a hand through my hair. Part of me is grateful she gave me her story. But every piece of her she gives me ties me tighter to her. Makes me more reluctant to let her go.
“Did she show this to you?” Hawk raises an eyebrow.
“I saw them first. When she saw them, I asked to see them.”
“Did she let you?” Cam is already doing a search on the number. He has access to all the numbers at Deimos and Anteros. If it’s someone who’s ever walked on this campus with us, he’ll have it.
“Yeah, and she told me about her first kiss and the asshole who took it.” There aren’t many people I hate, but Riordan always rubbed me the wrong way. Too eager to please the adults around us. He thought he was hot shit on the ice as a kid. And he’s good, but I’m better.
“Who?” Hawk asks.
“Jackson Riordan.” I wait while they absorb that. Neither of them likes the asshole.
“She thinks these are from him?” Hawk looks like he’s trying to figure it out.
“She said it could be anyone, but yeah, there was real fear in her eyes when she talked about him.” I hate Chase Chadwick and think he’s an overprivileged dick who needs to be brought down a few notches, but Jackson is different.
He’s not from privilege. He’s talented and eager to escape his circumstances in life.
It makes him more aggressive in a lot of ways.
Willing to do anything to climb out of his situation.
But it also makes him take what he wants.
“He was looking at her when he asked about the blond at the game.” Hawk glances at Cam. “I knew he wasn’t interested in Mia. Maybe it’s intuition, but I can believe these are from him.”
“He approached Mia and Evan at the football game.” Cam runs his hand through his hair. “Fuck. What are we dealing with here?”
“He wants what’s ours.” I won’t let her go. I can’t.
“He doesn’t know that. But if he’s been watching her, he might have an idea. Fuck.” Hawk leans back against the wall and puts his hands in his pockets. “Saying she’s ours would put targets on her here, but it might protect her from him.”
“Or our claiming her in public might make him more eager to claim her.” Cam shakes his head. “He always wanted what Damon had.”
“We don’t know what lengths he’s willing to go to get her.” I want to punch something, but I don’t. We can fix this.
“He might not try anything. Will Evan let us publicly claim her?” Cam sits in the chair and looks up at us. “She’s not like most girls. She doesn’t want to be popular.”
“Claiming her won’t make her popular. It will bring out the worst in people who want to get close to us, but it won’t change Evan.” I glance at my screen that shows where her phone is in the building. “We need to make him aware she’s ours.”
“We need to talk to Mia,” Cam says.
“Why?” I don’t want to encourage that bitch anymore. She thinks we’re a sure a thing. That Evan would never stoop to fuck us.
Fucking Mia.
“Riordan talked to her at the game.” Cam rubs his hands together. “If he was looking for an in with Evan, he might have used Mia. I don’t know anyone else who would give him her number.”
“I’ll talk to Mia.” Hawk steps forward. “I have class with her first period.”
“We need a way to track Evan besides her phone.” I glance at her moving dot on my screen. “Phones are too easy to lose or turn off.”
“You want to chip her like a real pet?” Cam chuckles, but when I look like I’m considering it, he groans. “Fuck, man. You can’t fucking chip the girl. But there might be another way. I’ll find something.”
“Until we have a way to track her, she doesn’t leave our sights except during school.” Some part of me still twists with worry, but I’m ignoring it. He can’t get to her on school property, not when she’s surrounded by other students.
“I’ll look into him.” Hawk checks the time on his phone. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Has she made contact?” I ask needing to make sure our other plan is in place.
“Hook, line, and sinker.” Hawk shakes his head. “Ate it up like candy. She’ll keep him on the hook until we’re ready.”
“I’ve got a few traps ready to spring next week too.” Cam smirks. “But Chase is easy to manipulate. Jackson won’t be.”
We all nod. Fuck. I almost forgot.
“One thing Chase’s dad brought up.” I straighten. “He blamed Abby for drugs in Chase’s room. Cam?”
“On it. As far as I know, he’s not a user, but I’ll see what I can find out. This number isn’t a known student number, but I’ll have to look later to see if it’s a spoofed number.”
“We can’t discount Olivia may have found out about Evan.” I glance toward the door. “I’ll find out if she has a burner or an app that allows anonymous texts. Whoever it is, they won’t touch her. Not without going through us.”
Hawk
Jackson fucking Riordan. I walk into first. Mia sat near me the first day. Chase lingers next to her desk with a smirk on his face. I take my seat, and Chase wanders to one in the back of the class.
“Hey, Hawk.” Mia leans on the desk toward me. She eyes me like she wants to fuck me. Fuck this girl. “Are we working on our history project this week?”
“We can talk with the others in third.” I give her a smile because I need information. If she reads into it, that’s not my problem. “I thought I saw you at the football game with Jackson Riordan. How do you know him?”
She smiles coyly. “I didn’t. He seemed to know Evan and needed a place to sit for the game. After Evan disappeared, he got a call, but he said he’d show at the party.”
“Did he show up?” I don’t remember seeing him at the party, but I was distracted.
“No, he’s as hard to track down as you guys.” She flashes me a smile. “But I did get his number. He put it in my phone.”
“Can I see that number?” I give her a quick smile.
She opens her phone and hands it to me. I glance at the number, memorizing it to write it down when class starts.
“He put his number in?” I hand her back the phone.
She nods and flips her hair back over her shoulder. “It was loud, and he didn’t want to have to scream it.”
Or he just wanted access to Mia’s phone.
“Did he say anything to EvanAnn?” I’m careful not to call her Annie to Mia. I need her to believe what she sees.
“No, he was really focused on me.” Mia leans in and says quietly, “But he’s not the one I’m interested in.”
Fortunately, the bell rings and class begins.
Cam
Evan is already in class when I sit next to her.
“How do you feel?” I ask with a cocky smile.
Her cheeks flush with heat, and she looks at her books. “I’m good.”
I’m glad Damon pushed her last night. Fucking that tight little asshole was perfection.
She smiles shyly. Those blue-gray eyes meet mine. “We should set up a schedule for tutoring.”
“Yeah.” I run my fingers over my lips. “My guess is you have more on your schedule than I do. But if you can come over and meet my parents so they believe you’re real and actually smart, then we’ll be able to meet outside of my house the next time.”
“How about tonight after rehearsal?” She gets her phone out and opens the calendar. “About seven?”
“Got it. I’ll text you my address.” I pick a piece of lint off her shoulder.
She looks at my hand and then meets my gaze. If I asked her to meet me in that classroom during the break, would she? Is she safe here at school? Those messages had an undertone of menace I can’t ignore. If it’s Jackson, he goes to another school, but it’s possible it could be anyone.
Maybe someone who knew about Jackson’s obsession with her.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she says.
The teacher walks in before I can say anything more.
It’s probably for the best. I shouldn’t ask her to meet me somewhere that might not be safe.
Besides, I wouldn’t want to just fuck her hard against the door again.
I’d want to explore every inch of her body.
As the teacher begins class, I relax. I’ll have her to myself tonight.
During class, I pull out the paper I ordered. It’s red and while the teacher drones on, I carefully fold it like I learned in the video. The little drawing disappearing into the center of the flower. By the end of class I finish and set it in front of Evan before she can pack up to leave.
Her mouth opens as she lifts the paper flower. “This is beautiful, Cam. When did you learn to do this?”
“The other night.” I lean close to her. “I wanted to bring you flowers but knew they’d wilt before you got home. This kind of flower won’t wilt.”
She looks about ten seconds from lunging in to hug or kiss me, which is not part of the plan. I turn to collect my things.
“Thank you,” she says softly. Her gaze is on the flower twirling in between her fingers.
I brush my fingers over hers as I get ready to leave. “You deserve someone who brings you flowers, goody.”
EvanAnn
I haven’t done anything with the texts I received this morning, but they’ve lingered on my mind. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown Damon. How stupid was it to tell him about Jackson? The boy stole a kiss.
Damon is no better. He stole a kiss from me too. The only difference is I craved his kiss more than my next breath. And I kissed him back. I sit down in the first seat in calculus. I haven’t moved since that first class.
Cam’s flower rests on top of my books until I can put it in my locker. Warmth fills me. It’s something so simple, but he made it just for me.
Damon sweeps in and sits down in the chair next to me. There’s been some shuffling, but we’re the top two of the class. He takes his phone out and lounges in his chair, ignoring me. My phone buzzes and I glance at the screen.
It’s a Snapchat message. Anticipation floods me. I open it knowing it’s probably from Damon.
Sex God:
Sorry I didn’t fuck you this morning
I glance around to see if anyone might have walked behind my chair and saw that. I glare at Damon, but he pretends he doesn’t notice. Another ding.
Sex God:
I’ll make it up to you tonight
Make sure you’re full of cum before you go to sleep in my bed
I roll my eyes.
Me:
Promises
New phone who dis?
He chuckles and I can’t help grinning. My heart warms at making him laugh. Mrs. Conrad comes in.
“Close your books. Pop quiz.”
When we finish calculus and make our way to history, Damon closes in on my back, making me aware of his presence. Normally, he ignores me during the school day. Yes, the naughty texts are normal, but not this sudden attention.
I don’t resist the urge to slow down so he looms over me.
We walk into history, and I take my seat. When he drops into the chair kitty-corner from me, his blue eyes are fixed on mine. I arch an eyebrow as if to ask what?
“We have a history project due,” he says and leans toward me.
My breath catches. The temptation to flirt with him presses on me, but I shove it away. “So you want to discuss our project?”
“Not really, but if it’s the only way I can have your attention...” He shrugs.
“You want my attention?” I look at him through my lashes.
He smirks. “Always.”
My heart pounds so hard.
As more students are filing in, Hawk and Mia join us.
“Hey, I barely saw you this morning,” Mia says.
“I was running late.” I breathe out and turn to face her. “I need to tell you something.”
“Sure, what’s up?” Mia glances at the guys before giving me her attention.
This feels like a mistake, but I can’t let Chase be the one to tell her. I don’t trust him. I’m not sure I trust Mia fully, but if I want to be her friend, I need to give her a little trust. Trusting Chase was a mistake, but trusting the guys isn’t. So it’s a gamble, but I’m willing to take it.
“My mom moved us in with the guy she was dating a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah? Is that hard?” Mia seems concerned.
I drag in a breath and hold it before bursting out. “My mom is dating Damon’s dad. The house you were at… I live there now. Sorry I didn’t tell you, but I really wasn’t expecting it. And it doesn’t really change anything. I’m still the same girl you met in the office.”
How much of what I say is trying to convince myself I haven’t changed? Because some part of me wants to cling to who I was and is scared of who I’m becoming. The Devil’s trio’s attention will fade. And if I’m not who I was, how will I deal with all this when it’s over?
Mia’s gaze narrows on me for a moment before it clears, and she smiles. “That has to be intense. Do you want to get coffee after rehearsal tonight to talk about it?”
“I’m tutoring someone tonight.” I don’t really want to tell her how much access I have to the Devil’s trio. It’s bad enough she knows I’m living with Damon.
“We’re going to the game on Friday, right?” She’s still smiling, but I can’t tell if she’s just acting. Fucking actors.
“Yeah, of course.” I breathe out when she turns to the guys.
“We still need to work on our history project.” She leans her elbows on the desk and looks between Hawk and Damon. “When?”
“This weekend. My place. After the scrimmage.” Damon doesn’t hesitate.
“Good.” Mia smiles at me before turning her attention to the teacher.